Welcome to Astronomer in Shanghai! Thank you for following my blog and for your interest in my life and adventures in Shanghai! As covid-19 persists in the US and around the world, and you are (hopefully) continuing to remain vigilant, avoiding large gatherings, and social distancing, I hope that you are all staying safe and healthy and that my blog highlights what the world looks like once recovery begins. As things improve, I hope that you enjoy small gatherings with friends and family and other outdoor activities. I’m sure you’ll find these interactions meaningful and enjoyable as I have.
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Life in Shanghai
I hope that this update finds all of you staying safe, healthy, and hopefully vaccinated. If you haven’t done so already, I strongly encourage you and your families to get the covid-19 vaccination as soon as possible (if available in the country you live in). Moreover, I hope that all of you are enjoying the warm spring weather (though it’s definitely summer in Shanghai) and are getting to spend some time outside doing socially distanced activities.
I’ll begin this week’s post with a covid-19 update. I’m sure some of you have heard that Guandong Province and Guanzhou (city) have gone into lockdown. For those of you unfamiliar with Chinese geography, this is the southern tip of China, near Hong Kong, so very far away from Shanghai. The lockdowns are a result of a rise of imported cases (though still small numbers, just 130 cases). However, it’s these kind of strict responses, which include mass testing of the populace, that have allowed China to remain being safe throughout the covid-19 pandemic. In terms of cases, there are 71 imported and active cases in Shanghai, with a recovery rate of 96.32%. In Beijing, there are just 9 cases with a recovery rate of 98.3%. The situation in Taiwan remains concerning as there are now ~ 9,600 cases (nearly all the cases in China). For China as a whole, there are 10,049 cases and the recovery rate is at 86.75%.
A few weeks ago, I shared with you that I was able to get a covid-19 vaccination. 🙂 I wanted to update you on how Shanghai has been pushing vaccinations. When I was vaccinated, I had to register with a local hospital for an appointment (that was about 40 minutes away from where I live). However, now, there are mobile clinics that are coming to each residential compound (roughly a block) and offering vaccinations. Today, as I was out for a walk, I saw a flyer for one of these for my own compound. While I’m not sure if I would have been eligible (as a foreigner), I’m glad to see that Shanghai is promoting the importance of getting vaccinated and making it more accessible to everyone! On a funnier note, every time I translate these messages, novel corona virus is translated to new crown virus (which makes sense), but always makes me laugh.
In other China news, this past week, China announced a 3 child policy (in effort to increase population growth, which has apparently stagnated). While I haven’t talked to my colleagues about it, what I’ve heard is that there’s more concern about being able to afford a third child than there is excitement for the opportunity.
In terms of Astronomy, this was another very work focused week. I spent most of my time adjusting and reanalyzing my mock galaxy catalog. While I definitely made progress and fixed some of the bugs, there are still a few issues that seem to be resulting in measurements that aren’t quite in agreement with what we expect, so it looks like I’ll be continuing to tweak this again. Hopefully, my supervisor Ying and I can figure out what the issue is to fix. Additionally, thanks to more help from my Ph.D. supervisor, I was able to finish making the revisions based on the comments from the final reviewer for my DES paper on the Stellar Mass – Halo Mass relation and it’s evolution. So, that paper will be resubmitted to the reviewer at the start of the week.
Since I know many of you aren’t Astronomers, I wanted to explain some of the bigger picture aspects of my research. However, since I’m working on a bunch of projects, I’ll do this one at a time spaced out over a few weeks (thanks for the suggestion Bernard!). To start, I want to explain my research on the redshift evolution of the Stellar Mass – Halo Mass (SMHM) relationship.
In simplest terms, much of my research focuses on understanding the makeup and population of galaxy clusters. In particular, for this project, we are studying Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs) that sit at the center of clusters and whose properties are strongly tied to the underlying dark matter halo (that forms the substructure within which galaxies form). BCGs are ~10-100x more massive than the Milky Way. In quantifiable terms, the SMHM relation compares the amount of stellar matter contained within that BCG to the amount of dark matter within a cluster. While this number itself can be very interesting, we measure how this relationship evolves over cosmic time (we cover ~ 6 billion years in our analysis). In doing so, we aim to understand how these massive galaxies grow and evolve over cosmic time as well as how the halos they reside in grow. This type of insight can be gleaned because changes in the slope of this relationship can tell us how these two masses are changing. Moreover, by adding additional components to our SMHM relation (which we do using the magnitude gap, a tracer for how much brighter the BCG is than smaller galaxies in the cluster), we can characterize how both the cluster population and outskirts of the BCG (the intra-cluster light) are changing as well. This type of analysis allows us to better understand both the formation mechanisms of massive galaxies and also how the dark matter halos they live in assemble. So, to summarize, the goal of my research on the evolution of the SMHM relation is to best characterize how and where massive galaxies grow over cosmic time.
I hope that this summary makes sense to everyone (especially to those of you not studying Astronomy). However, as always, if you have follow up questions, don’t hesitate to ask!
This was a pretty work focused week. As I noted in the title, we’re now reaching the start of summer in Shanghai. While the temperature hasn’t maintained the incredibly high heat every day, it’s very rarely cooler than the mid 80s with about 70+% humidity. So, in my mind, pretty uncomfortable without the AC running. Given that, the temperatures and humidity have reached the point where it’s unpleasant to go for long runs (which are my favorites). However, I’ve continued to go to the F45 HIIT classes as a way of exercising, which I’m really enjoying!
Next weekend is the Dragon Boat Festival Holiday. Shanghai does Dragon Boat races the week before, which I tried to see. However, I didn’t realize how early in the morning the races were being held and by the time I arrived at Suzhou Creek (at 10:30 am) the races were already over, which was disappointing. Hopefully next year I’ll get to see them race!
Despite the heat (which was pretty oppressive over the weekend, it reached the mid-90s), I still have some fun photos to share with all of you including some cool sculptures and some cute cats! Also, the eagle statue is located on the SJTU campus. I hadn’t seen it up close before and it was really cool! Not sure what it means, but will attempt to find out.
Jewish Life in Shanghai
The highlight of my week was on Friday when I had Shabbat dinner with my friend Kate (and her dog Pina)! I made vegan challah (first time on my own, which was surprisingly easy), which came out really well! Kate and I then made a sweet and sour tempeh, which was also really delicious!
After a busy week of work, it was really nice to have a relaxing and fun Shabbat dinner and then spend the evening catching up and talking about different sci-fi tv shows and movies! It was also lots of fun to play with Pina (my favorite dog in Shanghai!).
On Sunday, I subbed for the Bar Mitzvah class for Kehilat Shanghai’s Tov! religious school. Practicing the different prayers with the students and teaching them new prayers brought back fond memories I had of preparing for my own B’nei Mitzvah with Emmet some 17 years ago. 🙂
Overall, this was a very research focused week. I’ve got a lot of presentations and projects wrapping up so it will likely be a busy month of research (though hopefully there will be a bit of a summer break). However, it was really nice to take a break and enjoy Shabbat dinner with Kate and Pina! This upcoming week will be very research focused as I work to finish up some research for the DESI collaboration meeting the following week. Additionally, due to some plans and the Dragon Boat Festival Holiday, the next post will likely be published next Monday (1 day later than normal).
I hope that you enjoyed hearing about what I’ve been working on, seeing pictures of Shanghai, and hearing about my Shabbat dinner! I hope that you all have a safe and healthy week.
In peace,
Jesse
Hi Jesse,
I’m glad to hear that China is continuing to take such an active role in vaccinating the populace. The recent surges in Taiwan are really concerning. Do you know what the vaccination effort is like there? I’m glad you were vaccinated. Do you know where the imported cases are coming from? Hopefully the one lockdown will get things back under control in the mainland. I still worry that too many people are acting like the pandemic is over here, even though not everyone had been vaccinated. I’m glad to hear your research is progressing. I hope the last DES reviewer agrees with your response! I think you did a great job describing your research! I’m sorry it’s been too hot to run. I loved the different t statues and cats! Also, your Shabbat sounds lovely and Pina is really cute! I’m glad you enjoyed teaching Tov, too! When is the community B’nei Mitzvah? I’m sorry you missed the dragon boats. Maybe next year. I hope you have a productive next week. Stay safe and healthy!
Love,
Emmet
Hi Emmet! The recent surges in Taiwan are concerning. I don’t know anything about the quarantine and vaccination plans there though, but I hope it starts to turn around. The imported cases are mostly Chinese citizens returning from abroad. It’s been a mix of a lot of different countries, but the majority seem to be from Europe and Africa. I completely agree with you about things relaxing too much.
I also hope the response to the Final reviewer is well received. I’ll let you know when I hear! Glad you enjoyed the description of my research, though you already know it very well! I’m glad you liked seeing Pina! The community B’nei mitzvah will be in September/October, so the students have a lot of time to work hard and improve. I hope you also have a safe, healthy, and productive week.
Dear Jesse,
I found very interesting the news that China will now allow families to have three children in an attempt to promote population growth. I recall that years ago when I lived in France, teachers received priority points in their teaching assignments based on how many children they had; this was also an effort to boost the population. I appreciate your description of your research, too. You do a good job of explaining it to an educated lay audience.
Of course, my favorite pictures are of the three cats and Pina. The white cat is very lovely, and I am always partial to orange cats, which remind me of our Lee. Speaking of cats, Jules and Elsie are well, except when the outside orange cat in our neighborhood, Kane, comes by to see Elsie, and she hisses and howls, and then she turns on Jules! Now Jules knows to run the minute Elsie howls at Kane to leave her territory.
I am glad you are now going to the gym. It is a nice way to exercise despite this heat. I had a ballet lesson online with a New York City Ballet teacher! We are also quite warm these days–in the 90s. I just watered to keep the flowers going for the day ahead. In addition to the gardening, I am starting to work on an article for Illustration Magazine on The Little Lame Prince, a Victorian classic I loved as a child.
I hope that the final reviewer gives the green light to send off that DES paper to the journal, and I also hope you and Ying fix the kinks in this new project. And to think that your B’nei Mitzvah was 13 years ago!
Miss you and love you,
Mom
Hi Mom! I’m glad that you enjoyed this post and happy you could follow my research description. I knew you’ld like seeing the cats and Pina! The orange cats live in my compound and the white cat lives in the Fruit store I go to. I’m glad to hear that you’re also able to exercise, since I know how much you enjoy going to those classes. I’m glad they’re still doing them remotely for you, though. I’ll definitely keep you updated on the DES paper and my other research. I hope you have a safe and healthy week!
Great blog, Jesse. Now I have a better handle on your research. I gotta say that I was completely unaware that galaxies grew or even significantly changed. Of course, (he said) I was aware that some stars became novas and supernovas and some might become so massive that they imploded and formed black holes but I was oblivious to the idea that galaxies themselves were not stable entities. What is fascinating for me is the thought that if the “big bang” both created matter as we know (and don’t know it – dark matter) – and that phenomenon unleashed the energy that formed the expanding universe and so projected what would evolve into matter (is energy the flip side of matter?) why matter would clump and form stars and galaxies and why that matter would not be randomly and equally distributed across the entire universe. Why something rather than no thing?
Vegan challah? really like the way you braided the challah. Nice touch. I gotta say that all my breads are vegan. I don’t use eggs or honey and I use only olive oil. When Lisa bakes challah she does use eggs and often adds raisins. My breads are often baked with a tablespoon of poppy seeds mixed into the dough (1 T per 3 cups of flour and I generally use 2 C all purpose 1 C whole wheat and 1 T of gluten (whole wheat per C has less gluten than all-purpose) . If I am not making sour dough I will make a sponge (1 C flour added to the 1 C water, 1 T sugar and 1 T yeast) that I allow to ferment for a few hours and the continue mixing the other 2 C of flour and salt and more sugar (1 T), 1 T oil and the poppyseeds.
If I am making pizza, I use the same process but don’t add the second T of sugar or poppyseeds but I do add 1 t of onion powder, 1 t of garlic powder and 1 T of marjoram and those herbs together with the souring (albeit only a few hours and not 12 or 24 hours) adds a great deal more flavor to the dough.
Great photos of your week in Shanghai. Love those cats. And loved to hear that you were asked to teach a class at Tov. That must have been very special. In your role as researcher are you asked to do any undergrad teaching at the university or is that something that does not happen in China (or your university)?
On the Covid front here, methinks we might be moving too quickly to think that Covid is now in the rear view mirror. Only about 50 % of the population have been immunized by vaccine and so another – what? 10% may have some immunization because they were previously infected with a basic strain but I am unsure what the intersection of these two populations may be. 5%? So we are quite far from herd immunity… SUNY is asking us all to be back in our offices by the end of June… unmasked in our office but masked at meetings or when we engage in one on one with students or other faculty or staff. The one hiccough is that because water rarely flowed during this last 15 or 16 months of work from home, when they tested the water they found the bacterium for legionaires disease (chlorine had evaporated off and so no longer inhibited bacterial growth) and while they are purifying the water we are not to use any for coffee or tea or for drinking from fountains… When it rains , it pours.
Stay safe. We are expecting temps in Saratoga to hit the 90’s today , tomorrow and I think perhaps Tuesday. Gotta water the vegetable garden and our berries and herbs.
Thanks Bernard! Galaxies are continuously growing and merging with other surrounding galaxies. Because they live so long, we actually don’t know everything about a galaxy’s life the way we do for stars (exploding in a supernova). You ask a very good question about why matter clumps. This is a tenant of modern cosmology. In simplest terms, on the large scales, the universe is homogenous and isotropic. However, on small scales, there are tiny fluctuations in the matter density of the universe. When the universe rapidly expanded (inflation) very early on, those overdensities became clusters, attracting more mass, and the underdensities became voids. Hope that answers your question!
Thanks! It was a lot of fun to make the challah! Glad to hear that all of your breads are vegan! Mine had olive oil in the bread and a wash of oat milk (to get the sesame seeds to stick). Your breads sound delicious! I’ll have to try making them (or the pizza dough) some time!
It was fun to get to sub for the B’nei mitzvah class. At SJTU, I don’t get the opportunity to teach (postdocs aren’t allowed to teach). I do some mentoring, but teaching is something I definitely want to do in the future.
I agree with you about moving too quickly. I hope that the percentage vaccinated keeps rising, but the rate of increase seems to be slowing a lot. The situation at SUNY doesn’t sound ideal. Are they requiring faculty/students to be vaccinated? Hope you continue to stay safe and healthy!
I believe that they are strongly encouraging everyone to be vaccinated but I am not certain how that applies to students and whether they will be required to be vaccinated to attend in-person classes. (I am not teaching at this time and when I do I teach 100% online so for me that issue is more theoretical than practical).
I made an error in my post Sunday. I don’t add marjoram to the dough. It’s oregano, I add. I have no idea how marjoram popped into my head, though it is a herb I use. (and when I make pizza if I use mushrooms, peppers and/or tomatoes as a topping , Lisa taught me to saute the vegetables before topping and so while you don’t get them to look or taste “fresh” atop the pizza, you do get somewhat caramelized and other flavors from the vegetables (which I saute with herbs) and so you can get nicely complex flavors from fairly simple pizzas. (sauted pears – add a lovely touch especially if you then add arugula after you remove the pizza from the oven and then generously sprinkle a reduced balsamic vinegar over the greens and the pear.
To “reduce” the balsamic I take about a cup of the vinegar and gently boil it until about half a cup or so of the liquid evaporates off (about 10 minutes). THAT is quite delicious.
Hi Jesse!
Your challah looks delicious!
I’ve been thinking of you in Shanghai, as I’ve seen a tv special on the water Amy Tan recently..
Did you ever see the movie The Joy Luck Club?
(Craig and I saw it again and it’s still a great movie… I highly recommend it)
Anyway, Amy Tan’s mother came from Shanghai… and some of the story is about her mom’s life there. ..As a child..
I just started reading Amy Tan’s book Valley of Amazement.,, which all about life in Shanghai , courtesan houses, culture, the coming of foreigners… and war..set in the early nineteenth century….it’s very good and really interesting.
We missed you at Alex and Abby’s wedding…. and were so happy that your mom, dad , Emmet and cousin Halli were there.
Looking forward to a time when we will all gather again!
Thanks for the description of your research.,, it really feels “out of this world”… and it is!!
Cool!
XoxPam
Thanks Pam! It was really fun making the challah and very easy! Happy to share the recipe if you’ld like!
I have heard of the Joy Luck Club, but haven’t seen the movie. I’ll have to check it out! Valley of Amazement also sounds really interesting! Shanghai was a completely different city then, so it’d be really interesting to learn about that part of the past.
I’m glad that you (and everyone else) enjoyed Alex and Abby’s wedding! I wish I could have come. But, I’m looking forward to the next time we’re all able to gather in person. And glad you enjoyed my research description!